The Adventures of Bear and Butterfly

I have just gotten home from a day of sitting amongst healers.  We learnt about Ayurveda & the theory behind it.  I really enjoyed meeting everybody, it’s the sort of atmosphere that invokes relaxation & friendliness.  The teacher was very serious, but we were all quite jovial (at our misinterpreting) when we didn’t understand her speech- she didn’t take offense at all.  I didn’t find it too hard understanding her so I could follow everything she was teaching.

There is a South African lady called Cianne who was sitting next to me, she used to work in a corporate environment while learning massage & reiki I think.  Now she is a courier & doing healing.  Her mum sounds pretty groovy- she is going off on her own to do a 10 day silent meditation, just using someones farmland.

There is also a very lovely lady called Sally who is British & she has had heaps of healing done on her.  She was telling me about having past life regression therapy & getting her lives cleared.  She was having problems with attracting Witches into her life, so she thought it was a bit odd & had therapy done to clear it.  We seem to be at a similar place in our development, because I’ve just started looking into dream work & trying to get more out of my dream time, & she has nearly finished a book that has been teaching her just that.  She is also completing her Reiki 3 tomorrow… so maybe I will be able to get some healing from her…

I was also sitting next to a very sweet Indian lady salled Saraswathi.  I don’t think she has very much English but she seems to have a gentle nature.  I took her pulse & could tell what energy she had more of- that was pretty cool as!

The other healers there are Lucinda from Australia, Steve & Sonia from UK, & Lupe’ from Spain.  Lupe’ will be doing reception with me.  There was also a girl called Valeria who will be doing healing too.  She was only with us a for a few minutes.

The first thing we learnt was the Ayurvedic prayer which we will have to say when we are about to give treatment to a patient- or “guest” as they will be referred to.  This was all spoken in Sanskrit-
Ragadhi Rogaan,
Sathathanu Shakthanu,
Asheshha Kayaan,
Prasruthana Sheshaan,
Authsukya Mohaan,
Rathidaan Jagaana,
Yopoorda Vaidyayaa,
Namothsu Thasmai
It was interesting trying to chant these words together but it’ll take me a long while to get it memorised.

Then there was all the theory about Ayurveda & what the physiological & mental aspects were.  One thing I really thought is vital is their explanation for disease.  When you can’t digest your food properly, this undigested food becomes Ama which is a poison in the body.  When it combines with fluid tissue (Rasa Thatu) it gets circulated all over the body which causes disease.  So the way you combat this is to improve your digestion so that all your food gets digested adequately!  Pretty simple really!  & you make your digestive fire stronger by having the correct diet.

Tomorrow I may learn Ayurveda massage.  With Ayurvedic massage, there has to be two therapists giving the massage at the same time, doing both sides of the body synchronistically.  Pretty luxurious!  You use special oils that have medicinal properties, so the main emphasis is giving a relaxing, gentle massage to rub the oils into you so they can work properly & heal you.  So I imagine it won’t be very strenuous giving the massage because you don’t do deep tissue work.

Well, we didn’t end up at Nylon Soundz- it was just a bit too out of the way for us.  I only fancy spending over an hour on a bus if I’m going somewhere unmissable.  As we didn’t really know what the musicians would be like, & there were grey clouds collecting overhead, we decided to instead relax at home.  Excellent choice for us as it did start raining & rumbling- I woke up at 3am to a bit of lightning.

Lately we have been watching ‘Full Metal Alchemist’, a really awesome Japanese Anime that Bodra… found.  That has kept us pretty chilled & relaxed this past week- we watched the final episode (I think there were over 50 episodes) before going out to Henley-on-Thames yesterday afternoon.  We caught a train out there, changing at Twyford, taking about 25 minutes.  HoT seemed to be a really quiet, restful village.  The River Thames passes directly through it, so as Bodra & I walked along the streets we could peer into peoples luxurious barges.  There are some there which you can hire, driver included, & they were all decked out with wine & yummy nibbles & candles.

We wandered through the village & were both quite impressed by the atmosphere & the setting of the village.   Walking past a row of homes which have a tiny strip of flower space separating them from the footpath before being hemmed in by wrought-iron gates. There was this really traditional looking hotel, with the white walls & dark wood inserts & a frame roof.  I always thought they looked Swedish- you can just picture a windmill beside them.

Indian was on the menu as well as a rose`- pretty expensive all up but definitely yummy.  Then we went off in search of the puppet barge.  We heard a donging coming from the direction of the barge, so scurried over.  We crossed a platform onto the barge & were let in to the dimly lit barge where the puppet show had already begun.  We sat on school assembly seats that were luckily slightly padded on the seats & back (students would be so lucky!).  We had a good view of the stage, perhaps it was seven seats in front of us, but the seats were raised to the back.  There were perhaps six puppets being manipulated on the stage as the characters sat around discussing the play & the parts they were being given.  ‘Bottom’ was the arrogant dramatist, trying to out-act the other characters.

The next act was between King Oberon & Titania the Fairy Queen, their debate over Robin Good-fellow.  Their fairies were little balls of soft glowing light with tufts of hair or nature pieces like leaves or cobwebs.  Oberon puts his love-in-idleness spell on Titania to make her fall in love with the next thing she sees when she wakes, however ugly it may be.

& she see’s Bottom, with a Donkey’s head!  I think it was a trick that Puck did to change his head.

During intermission we enjoyed a tiny thimble of apple juice for 50p each.  We were able to see all the puppets collected by the family who had ran the Puppet Barge, as these were strung up all over the barge.  The gong was sounded & we returned to our seats.  I must admit, I was feeling quite tired so could’ve been happy to miss the last part, but Bodra thought it would be a bit disrespectful.  I was glad we stayed though, as I just kept thinking it was such a unique experience.  The last puppet show I had seen was when I did Tai-Chi & one of the students entertained us with his puppet antics from his suitcase.  But that wasn’t on a barge!

It was about 9:30pm when we came out & the village was starting to get a little more lively with people wandering around the cafes, bars & restaurants.  We checked on when our train would depart then went to a bar for a cooling Hoegaarden.  The air was a bit muggy still.  The atmosphere in the bar was very student-like, loud Indie Rock music, so loud I could barely talk to Bodra.  Heaps of testosterone fueled males & about seven females including the bartenders.  Bodra helped me polish off my pint (I didn’t realise they were THAT big!) then we returned to the station just in time.

Today we’ve been for a mission around picking up necessary home items- like a frisbee & Nag Champa incense (couldn’t fine either!).  We were treated to two Native Indian musicians on the main street.  They were dressed up real cheesily with like an animal head with horns on their head.  But they had some pretty cool instruments, a massive set of pan-pipes, probably a metre long.  We also saw this huge percussion band, playing Brazillian drums, the kind you get really physical with, bouncing around as you play them.  Unfortunately, they only had one song they were playing repeatedly, that super-cheesy disco song ‘Can You Feel It?’

We’ve discovered a comedy bar in the town called Jongleurs so we’ll check that out maybe next Friday.  Bodra will be off to Las Vegas in a couple weeks for some conference thingy.  I won’t be accompanying him but 45 degrees heat & casino’s galore isn’t much of an attraction for me- just as long as he brings back one of those ladies in the Ostrich dresses or a gambler… heheh!

It’s cloudy but warm here… I wonder how long Summer sticks around for in the UK?